據(jù)10月16日的《科學(xué)》雜志報(bào)道說(shuō),，我們舌頭上的能夠體驗(yàn)酸味的細(xì)胞同時(shí)也能體驗(yàn)碳酸化飲料的味道。體驗(yàn)一種嘶嘶冒泡的軟飲料牽涉到一種生理感覺(jué)以及對(duì)二氧化碳的味覺(jué),，而研究人員在迄今之前對(duì)此所知甚少,。
Jayaram Chandrashekar及其同僚滅活了在小鼠味覺(jué)細(xì)胞中的一組特別的基因。他們發(fā)現(xiàn),，這些缺乏體驗(yàn)酸味細(xì)胞的小鼠也無(wú)法嘗試二氧化碳,。 對(duì)這些味覺(jué)細(xì)胞所表達(dá)的特別基因進(jìn)行篩檢之后，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)編碼碳酸酐酶4這種酶的基因,，該酶所催化的反應(yīng)可將二氧化碳與水轉(zhuǎn)化為碳酸氫根與游離氫,。 看來(lái)這些質(zhì)子才是真正刺激酸感受細(xì)胞的物質(zhì)。 不表達(dá)該基因的基因剔除小鼠其感受二氧化碳的能力也會(huì)下降,。 文章的作者推測(cè),，二氧化碳感受細(xì)胞可能是作為識(shí)別發(fā)酵食物的一種方法而演化成的。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 16 October 2009:DOI: 10.1126/science.1174601
The Taste of Carbonation
Jayaram Chandrashekar,1 David Yarmolinsky,1 Lars von Buchholtz,2 Yuki Oka,1 William Sly,3 Nicholas J. P. Ryba,2 Charles S. Zuker1,*,
Carbonated beverages are commonly available and immensely popular, but little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the perception of carbonation in the mouth. In mammals, carbonation elicits both somatosensory and chemosensory responses, including activation of taste neurons. We have identified the cellular and molecular substrates for the taste of carbonation. By targeted genetic ablation and the silencing of synapses in defined populations of taste receptor cells, we demonstrated that the sour-sensing cells act as the taste sensors for carbonation, and showed that carbonic anhydrase 4, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored enzyme, functions as the principal CO2 taste sensor. Together, these studies reveal the basis of the taste of carbonation as well as the contribution of taste cells in the orosensory response to CO2.
1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Departments of Neurobiology and Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
2 National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.
